CHICAGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Supreme
Court today ruled that patient demand for nonessential, elective care
trumps the freedom of conscience of physicians and their ability to
practice medicine in accordance with their religious or moral beliefs.

Denise Burke, Vice President & Legal Director of Americans United for
Life (AUL), said, "This ruling will deny physicians and other professionals
the ability to freely exercise their religious convictions."

Added Burke, "By forcing healthcare professionals to choose between
conscience and career, we will lose doctors, nurses, and other healthcare
professionals who are already in short supply."

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., President and CEO of AUL added, "Medical
experts already project that existing shortages of nurses, physicians, and
pharmacists will soon worsen, failing to meet future healthcare needs.
Legal action to compel healthcare providers to participate in procedures to
which they conscientiously object threatens to make the already dangerous
situation disastrous."

Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel, said, "It defies common sense that a
patient would want a doctor to violate his or her conscience in practicing
medicine. A diminished physician population is not good for medical care."

The case -- North Coast Women's Care Medical Group v. Superior Court of
San Diego County (Benitez) - involves a situation where artificial
insemination was not provided due to the marital status of the patient (Ms.
Benitez).

Ms. Benitez filed suit arguing that she was not provided the procedure
because she is a lesbian. However, the physicians testified that the real
issue was her marital status, and that they would not have provided
artificial insemination to any single woman.

Ultimately, Ms. Benitez received the procedure from another physician
after receiving a referral from the objecting physicians (who paid the
additional costs she incurred).

AUL filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court on behalf of
the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the American Association of
Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Physicians for Life, arguing
that federal and state law as well as the ethics standards of major medical
organizations support the physicians' right to conscientiously object to
performing certain nonessential, elective medical procedures that conflict
with physicians' religious and moral beliefs.

About Americans United for Life

Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and
policy organization whose vision is a nation in which every human being is
welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life
organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life
through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the
federal and state levels since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled
AUL, and PBS's Frontline program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in
Mississippi.

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